Palm oil contains 700-1000 ppm of vitamin E, 300-620 ppm of phytosterols and 250-730 ppm of squalene. The present invention relates to a process for the recovery of the natural occurring Vitamin E, phytosterols and squalene from crude palm oil.
Vitamin E is a group of natural occurring lipid soluble antioxidants, namely tocopherols and tocotrienols that are found in certain vegetable oils. The main occurrence of tocotrienols is in palm oil, wheat germ oil, coconut oil and corn oil. Tocotrienols possess higher antioxidant activity than tocopherols, which have been shown in biochemical studies (Serbinova et al., 1991, Pokorny, J 1987 and Jacobsberg et al 1978). As a predominant type of vitamin E constituting 80% of total vitamin E found in palm oil, tocotrienols have also been known to possess hypocholesteolemic effect (Tan et al 1991 and Qureshi et al 1991).
Phytosterols are structurally similar to cholesterol except they are alkylated at the 24 position in the side chain. The most abundant type of phytosterols by far found in plants are β-sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol. These compounds are natural components of diet and are consumed in amounts of 100-500 mg/day with respect to US consumption (Weirauch, J L Gradner, J M 1978. Sterol content of foods of plant origin. J Am, Diet. Assoc. 73:39-47). Studies conducted employing β-sitosterol were found to significantly reduce the amount of cholesterol in the blood (Farguhar, J W et al 1956. Circulation, 14, 77-82). Palm oil is rich in phytosterols with 60% of β-sitosterol and the remaining 38% is stigmasterol and campesterol. Therefore it provides a natural source of phytosterols for recovery.
Squalene is a major component in various deep-sea shark liver oils. It is a powerful antioxidant that can scavenge free radicals from the body before they start their debilitating effect. Trials have shown that where squalene is taken as a dietary supplement, evidence has shown that it has preventative effects against carcinogenesis.
Squalene presents as one of the minor components in palm oil. It could be recovered as a valuable antioxidant if presented in high concentration.
The related patents which have been filed include WO0009535, GB 531226, GB 549931, GB 531224 and EP 0541999. These patents concentrate in the recovery of vitamin E or vitamin E and phytosterols but not as an integrated process for the recovery of vitamin E, phytosterols and squalene together as described in this invention. The patented inventions only proceed with one stage vacuum distillation in which it does not serve for the removal of high molecular weight components as described in this invention. Therefore, it is an objective of this invention to provide a method for purifying and recovering of these valuable minor compounds namely vitamin E, phytosterols and squalene to their respective fractions with crystallized phytosterols at high purity.